


spellbound

by battleshidge (Amiria_Raven)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Hogwarts AU, Shidge Valentine's Exchange 2018, Slow Burn, chess club, chess club is a thing and idk why, or as slow as it can be with a 16k one shot, pidge is an adorable bab with a crush on her big brother's best friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 10:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13809276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amiria_Raven/pseuds/battleshidge
Summary: A small part of Pidge hoped that this new warmth between them meant that her feelings weren’t in vain.A series of vignettes of their interactions throughout Hogwarts, as relationships grow and change and help to shape who they are.





	spellbound

**Author's Note:**

> For [Ibu](http://ibupony.tumblr.com)!
> 
> I'm sorry it's so late. I got busy and then when I actually started writing I realized that I kind of couldn't wrap it up any faster than this. I hope you don't mind that it got so long! (and if you have an AO3 let me know so I can officially gift it to you on here, too!)
> 
> As you can probably see, I rolled a lot more with the hogwarts au idea than most of your other favorite tropes, but I hope you like it!

When Katie Holt was eight years old, her big brother Matt got his Hogwarts letter. She had been so excited for Hogwarts, for classes about magic, ever since her parents had talked to her about it when she’d accidentally set Matt’s sheets on fire while they were building a blanket fort when she was four. However, when Matt got his letter, she realized something new.

Her big brother and best friend in the entire world was going to leave.

They were thick as thieves, her mother would always joke, but now Matt was going to be gone for about three-quarters of the year, and for three years before she could go, too. She was basically losing her partner in crime, and Katie wasn’t sure how she was supposed to handle that.

She didn’t speak to Matt for two weeks. She didn’t remember  _ how _ .

 

The third week since she realized it, she silently snuggled against him on family movie night. He put his arm around her in a little hug, as if she’d never given him the cold shoulder, and she knew that all was forgiven. 

Even though she was still conflicted, she knew she’d regret it if she continued to mope, so Katie started talking to him again. It was only a little at first, but it wasn’t long before they were back to normal and there was only one month left until Matt would be leaving for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

On the day they went to buy all of his school supplies, Matt managed to convince their parents to buy Katie some books, too, so she could study some while he was away. They wouldn’t get her the  _ Standard Book of Spells _ , unfortunately, but she got a little herbology book and after much convincing, her very own copy of  _ Hogwarts, A History _ .

 

“I’ll write you all the time, Pidgey-pie,” he grinned at her from in front of the large scarlet steam engine on Platform 9 ¾. The Hogwarts Express. “I promise. So you’d better write me back!”

“If I feel like it,” she sniffed, turning her head to hide her watery eyes.

She shrieked when his fingers skated up her sides, laughing as her brother tickled her, right there on the station platform.

“You’d...better...write...me...back!” he enunciated, quite deliberately.

“Fine, okay! Okay! I’ll write you back!” she gasped through her giggles. “Stoooop!”

“Thattagirl,” Matt beamed, ruffling her hair. “I’ll see you at Christmas, Pidge.”

She lunged at him before he could turn away, hugging him tightly around the waist. Begrudgingly, she mumbled, “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” Matt told her, low enough so only she could hear him. “You’re the best, little sis. I can’t wait for you to come to Hogwarts, too.”

“I’ll catch up in no time!” she declared, sniffing and stepping back. Pidge, since she’d adopted the nickname more regularly now, placed her hands on her hips defiantly. A challenge, she hoped, to her big brother.

“I’ll be waiting!” he laughed, waving as he headed to the train.

 

* * *

 

When Pidge sat down among unfamiliar faces at the Slytherin table as a first year freshly sorted, Matt gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up from the Ravenclaw table. He drew a lot of attention, waving his hands wildly until she noticed him, but he didn’t seem to mind one bit, beaming at her instead. Pidge gave a thumbs up back, but her nerves wouldn’t steady.

She was  _ supposed _ to be a Ravenclaw, just like all her family before her, but she wasn’t. How was she supposed to tell everyone? Would they be mad at her?

At least Matt didn’t seem to care too much. Maybe she’d find some nice people in Slytherin, even though most of Matt’s stories featured jerks from her house. She’d probably have to do what her brother had done and find a best friend outside of her own house, though. Matt’s best friend was a Hufflepuff, after all.

Even as she thought that, she caught his eye. Takashi Shirogane was craning his neck around, from just behind her brother, and smiling encouragingly at her. At least, she thought he was being encouraging. She’d met him on the train, when she sat with Matt and a girl in their year named Allura Altea, a pretty Gryffindor that had shared a Potions and Transfiguration class with Shiro and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Matt the previous year.

Shiro then lifted his hand and...was that a peace sign?

Pidge’s mouth dropped open and Shiro’s grin only grew wider before he turned around and faced the front again. The sorting continued, and Pidge felt at least marginally better than before about being sorted into Slytherin.

…...

At a proud thirteen, almost fourteen, and in her third year, Pidge smirked across the table at Shiro. By now, most students knew not to mess with the Holt siblings from across the chessboard, but their small, tight-knit group of friends had yet to learn their lesson. Shiro was probably the greatest offender, always offering to play against Pidge at chess club when Matt wasn’t able to make it for some reason.

“You know you can’t beat me,  _ Takashi _ ,” Pidge teased lightly, directing her black knight to take his white rook.

“Patience yields focus,” he responded cryptically, flicking his eyes up to meet hers with one corner of his mouth quirked up in a lopsided grin. He turned his attention quickly back to the board as her heart performed a stutter-step in her chest. Pidge silently cursed at the new power Shiro’s smile had over her, but like the trooper she was, Pidge continued to ignore it. 

How you could focus with Lance and Keith arguing in the background over their own match, Pidge had no idea. Most of the other members of the club were already giving the two Gryffindors scathing looks. Everyone, that is, aside from the club advisor Coran, who was having a friendly match with Allura. Pidge’s best friend Hunk, a Hufflepuff like Shiro, was at least giving Matt a little bit of a challenge, but he kept glancing over at the arguing duo with an exasperated expression.

Shiro made his move, drawing Pidge’s attention back to him, and smiled again. “There’s a first time for everything anyway, right?”

Instead, she shrugged and sighed, “If you say so.”

He still lost, but at least he made it interesting. He even had her in check, just once.

“Maybe next time,” he shrugged, unfazed, and Pidge just laughed.

* * *

 

“So about Hogsmeade this weekend,” Lance leaned across the table, grinning. The entire crew had forced themselves into spots at the Slytherin table. It wasn’t during a meal, so none of the professors particularly minded, and the other students in the room were mostly fifth years studying for O.W.L.s and seventh years studying for their N.E.W.T.s. Everyone but Pidge fit into that category among their group, too.

“What about it?” Allura asked absently, flipping a page in her Arithmancy text. 

“We’re not going,” Hunk cut in as Lance opened his mouth. Lance sighed and just sat back, pouting.

“I’d really love to go, especially with you guys for your last Hogsmeade trip as Hogwarts students, but this  _ slave driver _ ,” Lance scowled at Keith, “is going to make the Gryffindor Quidditch team have an extra practice before next week’s game.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “If we’re going to beat Slytherin this year, we’ve got to put in a little extra work. Don’t think I didn’t see your sloppy pass in practice yesterday.”

“Yeah, well don’t think I don’t know that you hit me with a bludger on  _ purpose _ after that.  _ Twice _ .”

He shrugged, flipping the page of his book. Pidge hadn’t caught what subject Keith was studying for, but it looked vaguely like Defense Against the Dark Arts. “I won’t deny it, but you deserved it.”

Lance tossed his hands in the air and declared, “Do you see what I have to deal with?”

“Okay, but why isn’t Hunk going, then?” Pidge interjected before their rowdy Gryffindors could get into it. 

“I’m taking all the classes I can without taking a free period,” Hunk explained, looking up from working on his History of Magic essay. “I want to go, but I really can’t afford not to study some more, especially since exams are next month. If I want to get into the N.E.W.T. courses I need to be a Healer, I’ve got to make sure I do well on my O.W.L.s now.”

Pidge groaned a little, but conceded that Hunk did have a point. He wanted to be a Healer, like his mother, and he’d never changed that aspiration since they’d known each other. She couldn’t fault him for that, and she didn’t want to coerce him to come to Hogsmeade if he didn’t feel like he should.

“Well, if you fail any of your O.W.L.s after ditching me with the geezers, I’ll be mad at you,” she joked instead. 

“Hey,” Matt dug his elbow indignantly into her side. “We’re not  _ that _ old, you know. You’re just way too young!”

“Actually, though,” Allura spoke up, pulling herself to her normal height. “This is a good chance to mention that Matt and I will also have to refrain from a group outing this weekend.”

“What?!” Lance’s voice was much louder than necessary. “It’s your last trip to Hogsmeade as students! You can’t give up this chance!”

“Oh, it’s not that we’re giving up the chance,” Allura smiled, waving her hand dismissively at him. “We’re just going as a date, that’s all.”

Matt nearly choked on his pumpkin juice. Pidge, as well as the rest of the table, gaped between the two.

The collective  _ “What?! _ ” was three times the volume of Lance’s, and Pidge could feel eyes from all over the Great Hall on them. She was too busy staring, slack jawed, at her brother.

“What the  _ hell _ ?” Lance’s voice was rather high. Keith stared, flabbergasted, between the two of them, while Hunk was completely unaware of the huge ink splotch on his essay where the quill was still resting.

“My brain hurts,” Pidge declared. Then she turned, very deliberately, to Matt and intoned, “She’s too pretty for you.”

Her brother just turned to stare at her, mouth open in indignation. Matt looked like he had a lot he wanted to say but couldn’t find the words to say them. The flush that burned high across his cheeks was definitely some pretty good blackmail material, though, so Pidge filed it away for later.

Matt finally seemed to find his words, but just as he opened his mouth, Shiro snorted, and then burst into laughter.

As the unlucky–or lucky?–person across from him, Pidge got to see the full force of his lopsided grin as he paused to catch his breath. “Well, it’s about damn time,” he said, looking between the two and running a hand through his untidy bangs. “If everyone’s going to be that way, I guess it means it’s just gonna be you and me, Pidge.”

He was still beaming, and it made her chest squeeze painfully. She forgot completely about her brother going on a date with Allura while her brain short-circuited at the thought of being at Hogsmeade, alone, with Shiro.

“I-uh, yeah, guess so,” she managed, watching as Hunk pulled out his wand to try and correct some of his inky mishap. She prayed her own warm face wasn’t red like Matt’s, and was forced, at least in her own mind, to admit that she might kind of like her brother’s best friend. “Some friends the rest of them are,” she cast a fake scathing look at the others, even if there was no true malice in her words or gaze. “It’s your last trip as students.”

“There will be other trips, later on,” Shiro shrugged, as if there were no doubts that they would always be friends, that they would always be together in some capacity.

“Yeah, but are you sure you wanna be stuck with  _ just _ me?” Pidge frowned as she idly toyed with the corner of her textbook page. She was supposed to be working on an essay for Potions, but her attention was more agreeably engaged in conversation. “I mean, I’m not even–”

“What do you mean, ‘just you’?” Shiro reached across the table to flick her in the center of the forehead. The grin he showed was still lopsided, and Pidge had to ask herself why she hadn’t yet managed to dismiss the way it made her heart flutter whenever he directed it at her. “You’re my friend too, y’know.”

Pidge couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t sound like an excuse, or wouldn’t give away things she didn’t want anyone else to know, so she just shrugged. 

“Okay, then,” she answered vaguely. Shiro looked like he wanted to say something, to pry, but instead he focused back on the text in front of him. A model prefect, of course.

 

Saturday rolled around sooner than she expected, and she and Shiro were separated from her brother and Allura in the line. Allura insisted it wasn’t because they didn’t want to talk to them, but more because they wanted to treat it as much like a date as possible from the very start.

“She’s too pretty for him,” Pidge observed again, watching as Allura leaned closer to say something to her brother. “And she’s head girl. And the prettiest girl in school. How many guys have asked her out this month alone?”

“Oh, c’mon, Pidge,” Shiro snorted softly. “They’ve been friends for how long? It was only a matter of time.”

“Yeah, but–”  _ you’ve been friends with her for just as long _ , she nearly said, but caught herself. “Well, she’s got a lot of other friends, too. Not all of them are the nerdy captain of the chess club, or something.”

Shiro patted her on the shoulder with a light laugh. “Yeah, but that’s not all that matters, Pidge. You’ve got a big brain in that head of yours, so don’t tell me you haven’t seen the way they look at each other.”

Maybe there was some truth to what Shiro said, but Pidge still wondered how she missed something that big. Was it because she was younger? Was she just immune to things like love and romance and all that stuff that didn’t really have an impact on her studies?

Or was she just blind to anything that wasn’t her own internal battle with her unrequited crush?

Pidge shook her head in an attempt to cast the thought away, and said instead, “I guess I just never thought of it much. I thought Matt was a forever alone type of guy.”

That made Shiro actually laugh, even as he halfheartedly scolded her for talking about her brother like that. Soon after, though, they were making the trek down through the gates and moving on to other subjects, like how studying for his N.E.W.T.s were going and how well he needed to score to get into the Auror program at the Ministry, or what Pidge thought she might want to do after Hogwarts and what N.E.W.T. level classes she’d want to take after next year’s O.W.L.s had passed.

Shiro was nervous, but confident, and Pidge didn’t really know what she planned to do, but she wanted to work at the Ministry. It was a start, at least.

She tried not to think about how it would keep them close together even after school, because that had never been part of her intentions when she realized she wanted to work in the Ministry of Magic, but it was hard when he laughed and pointed it out.

“We’ll even be able to see each other around work, then,” he nudged her as they made their way past Scrivenshaft’s. “I think I might need a new quill, actually,” he drew to a halt, and then grinned at Pidge, “Do you mind?”

“Nah, I need to pick up some more parchment. I’m running low.”

She wasn’t, but he smiled and turned back to the shop, slipping inside with Pidge on his heels. Several students greeted him as he walked in, and he just smiled and waved and made nice, and Pidge observed as she slipped over to the parchment. Shiro was the kind of person that drew people to him, and she’d always known that, but now, as she was trying to resign herself to the fact that he and Allura and her brother would soon be graduating from Hogwarts and leaving her behind, it was hard to swallow.

He’d always have friends, no matter where he went, but she’d be left behind with just Hunk and Lance and Keith, and then she’d spend her last year alone, because Pidge was awkward and a Slytherin, and those didn’t mix well with making friends. She’d learned that the hard way as a second year, when she tried to pull away from her brother and his friends, just a little, in order to make her own.

She reached out for a roll of parchment, feeling the quality, as she dashed the thoughts from her head. So what if Shiro would always be able to make friends? Even if he made other friends and moved on, spending time with him today would still be important in the long run. She would always get to say that she was with him on his last Hogsmeade trip as a Hogwarts student, and that was worth more than just claiming a passing friendship with him.

And if she happened to pick up an extra quill, much fancier than she would ever buy for herself, and purchased it before Shiro could notice she didn’t have just parchment, it was because she was a good friend and wanted to wish him luck in her own way, even if he was here to pick up a quill for himself, anyway.

“Hey, Pidge, did you find what you were looking for?” he asked as she turned from the counter, paper bag crinkling a little in her grasp. He surprised her, just a little, but she tried not to let it show. 

Pidge shook the bag at him and drawled, “No, I didn’t, I just wanted a paper sack.”

Shiro sighed in good humor and nudged her aside to put his quills–she noted, triumphantly, that they were of a poorer quality than the one she had just bought–and a new inkwell on the counter, smiling at the older man behind the register.

“Will this be all for you today?” he asked, punching a few things in.

“Yes, it is!” Shiro replied, still smiling. It wasn’t his lopsided grin, she noted, but pushed the thought aside.

Shiro paid and took his own bag, and then they meandered from the shop, Pidge choosing to heckle him about buying ink when he probably could have refilled his own with a spell, or repaired his quill.

It was then that she found out that Shiro was paranoid that somehow, using magic to fix his quills or refill his ink would make his homework or even his exams flash as cheating. It didn’t make sense to her, and she argued his logic, but he was embarrassed because even  _ he _ knew it didn’t make much sense, so after a while Pidge let it drop. They meandered through the bookshop and then, near lunchtime, towards the Three Broomsticks.

Over butterbeers and a small snack, Pidge quizzed Shiro over the Defense Against the Dark Arts notes of his she’d memorized throughout the last few weeks of helping him study. She didn’t have a clue why he’d asked her, out of the blue, but she obliged.

Once he’d called a break, after about thirty minutes, she finally asked, “Why the sudden urge to study?” as she lifted her butterbeer to her lips.

Shiro, in turn, looked a bit sheepish. “I remembered that we have a quiz on Tuesday, but I don’t know what will be on it. Sorry for dragging studying in, even though we’re supposed to be relaxing today.”

A quiz, then. 

“Don’t apologize, Shiro. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do well,” she snorted, reaching for the plate between them. “Besides, that class is going to be a breeze for me by the time I get there, will all the stuff I’ve already memorized to help you out.”

He laughed, and Pidge decided that a smile suited him a lot more than an apologetic look, and laughing suited him best. 

She still had a weakness for that lopsided grin, though.

The rest of the day was uneventful, and Pidge didn’t end up giving him that quill until the week before his N.E.W.T.s, but the grin he gave her then was worth it. She managed to wish him luck on his exams with all her heart and none of the halfhearted feelings she’d been fearing.

And then they graduated.

* * *

 

Shiro took time to write to her.

The letters were never anything groundbreaking, just little updates on his life and how Auror training was going. They weren’t love letters, not even close, because Pidge was the one that liked him, but her heart still skipped a beat every time she saw his handwriting and the way he carefully penned her name.

Pidge saw Shiro and Allura a few times after they all graduated over the summer when everyone managed to go to a Quidditch match or when the Holts invited them over to dinner. There was one Ministry function where they announced the entering Auror trainees, and one of them was Shiro, and Pidge was proud of him for getting this far and making his dreams at least start to come true. She saw them over her winter holidays, when Shiro came over to stay with Matt for a few days and they all goofed off and played a few chess matches, like they would when the elder two were still at school.

It still amazed her that what had seemed like a rushed date had turned into something, especially for her brother and Allura, but Shiro gave her updates on their love life sometimes, too. She got a few good laughs off of her brother’s mistakes, but she was happy for him if he was happy.

She would write back, but she usually kept her letters fairly short. She didn’t want to bore him with the trials and tribulations of a year of exams that he’d already dealt with before, and she wasn’t exactly sure how to do much more than inquire about his health without it sounding like she was prying.

The tone in his letters didn’t change, even when her responses were short, and it always soothed her to read his warm words, especially in the period near the end of the year where she found out that Matt was moving to London to be closer to the Ministry, where he’d started in the Muggle Liaison offices. It wasn’t as if she’d never see her brother again, but knowing that he wouldn’t be at home when she got back for the summer was a little disconcerting, and she wasn’t immediately sure how to take it.

It didn’t distract her from her exams, though. She pulled through just fine.

* * *

 

Waiting for results over the summer was agonizing, and only then did she recall how rough Matt had been the entire summer after fifth year. Even though she was confident she had done well, Pidge was still nervous. Matt had been through it before, too, so that’s probably why, in the middle of the summer, he flooed home to ask Pidge to come stay with him for a few weeks in London.

That was how she found herself dropping her bags on the floor in the living area of the flat he was renting as he pointed out where the bathroom was, his room, and–

The door Matt had just pointed to but had not explained opened and, rubbing his eyes blearily, stood Shiro. “Is Pidge here yet?”

His thin t-shirt hung loosely on his frame, and Pidge nearly had a heart attack. She’d seen sleep-deprived Shiro, and even Shiro without a shirt a time or two while he was playing quidditch with Lance and Keith and Allura, but she’d never seen him just waking up at nearly noon, his hair sticking up at all kinds of angles and grinning at her in that particular way.

No. Fair.

“Shiro?” she managed not to squeak, and then turned to her brother. She knew her eyes would ask the question that she didn’t dare voice, and Matt just grinned. It was a particular grin Pidge knew meant he was up to something, and then he winked at her.

He  _ knew _ .

“Hey, Pidge,” Shiro greeted warmly, stretching. “Sorry I wasn’t up to say hi when you got here. Training went late last night. Matt, have you finished showing her the apartment yet?”

“Not yet,” Matt answered with a light laugh. “Like I was saying, that’s Shiro’s room, and then over here,” he pointed to another door, already open, “is our spare room. It’s a little small, but I hope you won’t mind, Pidgey-pie.”

He ruffled her hair, which was harder now that she wore it up in a ponytail, and she groused at him a little to fend him off. Matt just laughed.

“We’re glad you came,” Shiro added, grinning. He already sounded a lot more awake than he had only moments before. His cat, Kuro, the one he’d even had back at Hogwarts, twined around his feet and meowed. Shiro laughed and amended, “All three of us are glad you came. Right, Kuro?”

She meowed again, flicking her tail and padding lightly across the room to where Pidge stood. 

On the pretense of kneeling to pet Kuro, Pidge eyed Shiro. Matt went over and struck up a conversation that Pidge couldn’t quite hear, despite the small apartment, and watched as Shiro snorted and quipped something back. 

His jaw was stronger than last time she’d seen him, she thought. And he’d filled out a little more, too. Something about him was just as alluring as ever, from his toes to his tousled bedhead, and she had to swallow the lump in her throat. She lavished more attention on Kuro, then, and tried not to eavesdrop. 

She was sixteen now, but suddenly Pidge felt even smaller than before. She had a lot of ground to cover, and her brother and his friend would only keep getting further ahead of her with ever year she was still in school.

For now, though, she had the summer ahead of her. And when her O.W.L.s somehow came directly to the apartment in London when the three of them were sitting down to breakfast one Sunday, they all froze and then the others were urging her to open them, Matt leaving his seat to hover over her shoulder while Shiro leaned anxiously across the table. Pidge knew they cared, knew they’d always care, even though they had left those days behind them already, and she felt warm.

If her brother didn’t talk to her for three hours because she got all Os when he had missed one on his all those years ago, it was alright, because Shiro took her out of the apartment for ice cream and congratulated her, grinning the entire time.

* * *

 

“You want me to  _ what _ ?” Pidge demanded, planting her hands on her hips.

Sixth year had passed in what seemed like a blur, with letters and support from Shiro and Matt and Pidge struggling to prepare herself for her seventh and final year, and her only year without the tight-knit group they’d had, and now she was once more at the flat that Matt and Shiro shared in London.

“Please, Pidge, you’ve got to help me,” Matt nearly whined. “Pidgey-pie, Katie-cat, the best little sister a man could ever ask for…”

“Matt, you know I don’t do  _ fashion _ ,” Pidge groaned, dragging her hand down her face. Her hair was loose today, wisps tickling her cheeks as the weight rested against her shoulder blades. “How the hell am I supposed to help you dress for this gala when I don’t know the first thing about the latest fashions in the wizarding world, or even the muggle one, let alone which colors look good with which? Shiro, tell him he’s being ridiculous and that he should just let Allura pick!”

“I’ve tried,” Shiro said around the spoon in his mouth, then he seemed to realize what he’d done. He removed the spoon and continued, “He won’t listen. He thinks that Allura’s going to leave him if he can’t at least dress himself.”

“Says the one who hasn’t even found a date yet when he’s one of the stars of the entire thing!” Matt shot back.

This was the first Pidge had heard of Shiro not having a date. She quirked a surprised brow at him and fought back the surprised, and relieved, flutter in her chest. She was going to be a pro at hiding her feelings...or maybe she already was, if he still hadn’t noticed after nearly three years.

“A date isn’t required,” Shiro huffed back, cheeks dusted pink.

Matt scoffed. “Please, at this rate you’ll be the only person there without a date. If only you had someone who could tolerate you long enough to–wait. Hang on. Hold up. This is  _ perfect _ !” 

Pidge flopped down on their sofa, snorting. “Please. If it’s you, it’s probably a horrible idea.”

“Well, he’s had a few good ideas in the past?” Shiro tried to sound optimistic, but the questioning lilt in his tone dashed that pretty quickly. He could tell, too, because he added, “Occasionally he’s got an okay idea, I guess.”

“I resent that,” Matt groused, but he stood proudly in the center of the apartment. “Anyway, as far as I know, there’s still a certain person of the female variety, in this apartment right now, that has nothing to do and nowhere to be on a certain date…”

Pidge, who had been idly flicking through a magazine from the coffee table, abruptly dropped it on her face and yelped.

When she moved it, she saw the devious grin on her brother’s face.

Her suspicions the previous summer had been entirely correct, and it was apparent that he knew those feelings hadn’t gone away. Sometimes it was a pain having a brother that knew her so well.

“C’mon,” she forced a chuckle, lifting the magazine and pretending to be interested in...go figure, a fashion article. “I’m sure Shiro’d rather go with someone who’s not still in school, or something.”

“Well, I don’t hear Shiro saying no,” Matt declared, looking over towards the table, where Shiro’s attention had been pulled from their issue of  _ The Daily Prophet. _ He was staring at Matt, his jaw slightly dropped but expression otherwise unreadable. 

Pidge, dropping her pretense of perusing the  _ Witch Weekly _ that she hoped was just a left behind item of Allura’s, watched as Shiro swallowed.

“I don’t mind that you’re still at Hogwarts,” he said after a very pregnant pause, his voice soft, “but I wouldn’t force you to go.”

“No, no, no, Shiro, that’s not how you ask someone to a gala!” Matt snorted. “You’ve got to be all fancy and ask her if she would honor you by being your guest to the party, or something.”

“How would you know? Allura just told you that you were going, didn’t she?” Pidge managed to tease, swallowing her hopes. They remained as a knot in her chest, but she tried to stop holding her breath.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know  _ how _ –” Matt began, indignantly.

“Katie, do you want to go to the gala with me?” Shiro cut across, and Matt fell silent instantly. Probably for the same reason Pidge’s heart performed a new stutter-step in her chest.

_ Katie _ . 

Pidge couldn’t remember the last time that Shiro had actually, seriously called her Katie. When they’d first met, probably. Or maybe at some point when he was scolding her for being too savage to Matt. But this was just an invitation to a Ministry event, where she’d be considered his  _ date _ , and Pidge was flabbergasted.

She was an adult by wizarading standards, of course, but she still wondered, vaguely, if people would judge Shiro for bringing a Hogwarts student as his ‘date’.

It didn’t stop the, “Yeah, sure,” from slipping past her lips before she could consider all the consequences.

Consequences being the shopping trip with Allura and even Colleen Holt later that week. It was as if both women had just been lying in wait for this very moment. It was a rare chance to play dress up with a live mannequin, or that’s kind of how Pidge felt before they were done. 

“You’re coming over to my place to get ready before the gala,” Allura informed Pidge in a tone that brooked no argument. “And I think we’ll keep your dress at mine, too, just so we can surprise them with how amazing you’ll look!”

Pidge just groaned. Her mother had already left, leaving the girls to shoe shopping and a trip to Fortescue’s in Diagon Alley for the best ice cream in London, but if Colleen was still there she would have agreed. Pidge, however, just asked, “Is there really a point to keeping it secret?”

“Of course!” Allura grinned then, leaning closer across the small table. “You get to watch Shiro’s jaw drop when he sees you for the first time, don’t you?”

She couldn’t help the burning in her cheeks. “ _ Allura _ !” she hissed, taking a quick bite of ice cream that wouldn’t have fooled anyone. “What the–”

“Oh, please,” she laughed, sitting up straighter as she sampled her own frozen treat. “You’ve only had eyes for Shiro, probably at least since your third year or something. And it hasn’t gone away.”

Not only Matt...Allura had noticed, too? Just how many of her friends and family had already known about her feelings for Shiro, even though she was trying her best to hide it?

“It’s nothing,” she said instead, glancing down the alley.

“It’s not  _ nothing _ , it’s three years of your life or more. You can’t just pretend it never happened and move on, just like that,” Allura took another bite. “I’m not going to force you to say anything to him or anything like that, but I’m just saying, Pidge, that you should give yourself a little more credit. It’s not nothing if you’ve liked him for so long, or if you still like him. It’s a part of who you are. And at the very least, Shiro’s a great person to have fallen for. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of.” 

_ Afraid _ . That was a good word for it. Afraid that she’d change the group dynamic, afraid that she was just Matt’s little sister, afraid that she was only being invited out of pity because she had nothing else to do. There were a lot of things it could be, but maybe it was more that she was scared to lose the certain sense of family she’d found in their group of friends.

“Just drop it,” Pidge fiddled with her spoon, pulling herself back to the present. “I’d really rather not talk about things that aren’t feasible.”

Allura scoffed. “Not feasible…? You’re fooling yourself, Katie Holt,” she declared, but she let the subject drop for the time being. Pidge was thankful for that. She wasn’t sure how many more epiphanies she could handle, and she was pretty sure that Allura would be able to pull them out of her if she pressed any further on the topic of Pidge’s feelings.

 

On the night of the gala, Allura still insisted that Pidge had to come over to get ready, and Shiro and Matt didn’t dare argue with that. Matt did kind of protest when Allura declared that he couldn’t come over before they were dressed and prepared, but a single glare from his girlfriend silenced him.

“Did you really have to do makeup, too?” Pidge grumbled, pulling lightly at the green dress that trailed around her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn a dress. Had it been for another Ministry function that their family had attended because her father was in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office? Probably.

Ministry functions were only good for making her miserable in uncomfortable clothes and shoes, Pidge decided.

“Of course!” Allura laughed, putting the finishing touches on her own makeup. She spun around to face Pidge, beaming, and she was absolutely gorgeous. “Think of the entire ensemble like armor. You’re about to wage war, Pidge, and you’ve only got your looks to do it. We’ve got to make sure every little bit counts, from accentuating those curves to bringing out the gold in your eyes.” 

Pidge shifted, uncomfortably. “What if I mess it up, though?”

She meant the makeup, but as soon as she said it Pidge realized that it could apply to much more than just the cosmetics.

Allura reached up and placed her hand on Pidge’s cheek, just smiling at her. “You’ll be fine. Remember,  Pidge, it’s not just makeup. We’re witches, after all, and we’ve got access to the good stuff,” she winked. “I’ve fixed it so that it doesn’t smudge or wear like muggle makeup tends to do, and that’s in addition to the charms that they imbue in it when they make it. You’d have to try  _ really  _ hard to do anything to it.”

A smirk crossed her lips, and before Pidge could say anything else, Allura leaned forward and whispered, “Or  _ Shiro _ would.”

Pidge’s cheeks burned, and with a startled and indignant, “ _ Allura! _ ”, she backed away, nearly tripping over the hem of her dress in her heels. Allura started laughing, and Pidge placed a hand over her racing heart as she tried to put the mental images out of her head.

“You should see your face!” Allura giggled, standing from the seat in front of her vanity and practically gliding to where Pidge stood. She dropped her arm around Pidge’s shoulders, and Pidge could still feel her shaking from her mirth. “I almost didn’t say it, but now I’m glad I did.”

“I hate you,” Pidge mumbled as she buried her face in her hands. 

“But at least you’re not worried about your makeup, now.”

Pidge just groaned.

She was saved any further torment by a knock at the door. Allura straightened, flicking her skirts to order even though she was about to move and shift them anyway. Pidge didn’t understand it.

Pidge did, however, understand the way her chest tightened when Allura opened the door to Matt and Shiro, all prim and proper in their dressrobes. Shiro’s hair was carefully styled, the tuft of his bangs slicked back and tamed. The vest he wore with the stylish black dressrobes was a steely grey, with a tie that matched the green of her dress, and she suspected she had Allura to blame for that.

He was incredibly handsome, and Pidge couldn’t remember ever seeing him dressed to the nines, and now she knew the image was burned into her memory, for better or for worse.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a startled laugh, and she saw her brother pull away from embracing his girlfriend.

“Whoa. Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” 

Pidge crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Say that again and I’ll show you where I’d like to shove these heels.”

She was putting on a bravado she didn't quite feel, and mostly to avoid looking directly at Shiro. Somehow, Pidge wasn't entirely prepared to see his response to her attire. What if he thought it didn't suit her? Despite Allura’s many assurances otherwise, Pidge was still sceptical. Dresses weren't her thing, after all.

“Wow, no, there's definitely a Pidge behind this lady,” Matt teased as he stepped forward and nudged her lightly. “I'd recognize my sister's sass anywhere.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, I look like a trainwreck, it doesn't suit me, whatever. Can we move on?” Pidge frowned a little, turning her head away from her brother.

“You look great, Katie.”

The voice sent a shiver up her spine, and against her better judgment, Pidge slowly looked back at the doorway. Shiro had barely stepped across the threshold, but his eyes were trained on her as if he was just seeing her for the first time. His cheeks were flushed, high on his cheekbones, and Pidge tried her hardest to make herself believe he was just warm in his layers. A part of her that she couldn't quite silence insisted that it was because of  _ her _ , though, and she let herself hope, even a little.

“Th...thanks…” she managed, somehow, right before she made eye contact. The warmth in her own cheeks only rose, and she couldn't pull her gaze away. Shiro grinned at her then, slowly and almost unsure, and her heart fluttered.

“See, Pidge, what did I tell you?” Allura broke the silence, and Pidge turned gratefully to her. The silence had seemed to stretch on forever, and Pidge was afraid if how long she'd been staring at Shiro since he'd spoken. “I told you it looked fine. Your brother is just absolute garbage at compliments.”

“I resent that.”

“Well, she's not wrong,” Pidge shot back, her voice a touch raspy. “Have you even told her how gorgeous she is, yet?”

The way even the tip of his ears turned pink was proof enough that she had struck the chink in his armor. Allura and Shiro both laughed as Matt scrambled to save face.

“Come now,” Allura cleared her throat. “We wouldn't want to be late with one of the guests of honor, would we?”

“I wouldn't say I'm a guest of honor,” Shiro started, but Pidge snorted. You could put her in a dress, but that wouldn't make her any more ladylike in the long run.

“Please. You're the definition of a guest of honor, Shiro,” she found her feet moving towards him before she had even considered the action. She pulled on his arm, into the living room, and closed the door behind him. “And since Allura doesn't want to floo, we should get ready to apparate.”

“Of course I don’t want to  _ floo _ ,” Allura sounded incredibly indignant. “After all the hard work we’ve put in, I don’t want to ruin our hair or smack an elbow and get a bruise right before the event. Especially you with your complexion, Pidge. It would show up plain as day, and I  _ know _ we can use magic to heal a bruise but if anyone saw it before then, it wouldn’t even matter. Not to mention the soot!”

She never even noticed the other three smiling at her and trying not to laugh. When she did, she just scowled at them all.

“Oh, ha ha. Very funny,” she drawled, sliding her arm into Matt’s as a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “Are we ready to go, then?”

Pidge nearly jumped out of her skin when Shiro’s arm shifted under her hands, looping around hers to mirror the way that Matt and Allura had linked arms. He smiled down at her, that familiar lopsided grin she kind of adored, and then turned back to Allura. 

“Ready if you are,” he offered, pulling Pidge a little closer to his side.

“Then let’s go,” Allura declared and, without preamble, she tugged Matt into a spin, and with a  _ pop _ , the two disapparated. 

“I guess that’s our cue,” Shiro mused with a chuckle. 

“Probably,” Pidge agreed even as she tightened her grip on his arm. She had license to apparate now, of course, but this would be her first time doing it with someone else at her side. 

Shiro’s arm was warm in her grasp and shifted as he leaned over. Her heart started its frantic stutter-step in her chest as she glanced up at him, but he just grinned reassuringly. “Relax, Pidge. Just think of that telephone booth near the Ministry. We’ll apparate there, and that’s where we’ll be entering from.”

She swallowed, nervously, and nodded.

“Are you ready?” he asked gently, and after a few minutes, Pidge nodded again.

“Let’s do this,” she agreed.

“Okay. In three…two….one!”

They spun as a pair and Allura’s apartment disappeared. Moments later, the dimly lit alleyway came into focus, and Pidge started taking a mental tally to make sure she hadn’t accidentally splinched something. 

“Took you long enough,” Matt’s voice teased, and Pidge started to take better notice of her surroundings. Matt and Allura were already waiting, and Matt was holding open the door to the telephone booth. “Let’s go or the gala will start without us!”

With a glance at Shiro’s watch, on the wrist facing her, Pidge scoffed. “There are thirty minutes before it starts, Matt. Stop exaggerating.”

“Everyone always arrives early to events like this,” Allura stated sagely. “There’s free food and even entertainment, and the doors usually open at least an hour prior anyway. Don’t you want the opportunity to eat before everyone else is there to see it?”

“I don’t care if people see me eating,” Pidge deadpanned. “We’re all human. They have to eat, just the same as me, and if they get judgy about how I eat something then they can keep it to themselves or find my wand up their–”

“Yeah, yeah,” Matt dismissed her with a sigh. “We get it, you’re not ladylike at all, Pidgey-pie. Now get in the damn telephone booth so we can actually get into the Ministry before the late rush starts.”

“We’re not late,” Pidge muttered under her breath. She heard Shiro chuckle from above her and smiled to herself as he guided them into the cramped booth behind the others.

 

As soon as they had announced and congratulated the new aurors, Shiro returned to Pidge’s side. He had a shiny new pin on his chest and Pidge immediately new that Matt would probably tease him about how it was similar to his old prefect’s badge at some point, but he seemed content to walk around on Allura’s arm and chat with his coworkers for the time being.

Others from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement kept coming up to congratulate Shiro and each time they did, he would tighten his arm around hers for a fraction of a second, as if he was still nervous. He didn't have any reason to be, she was sure, Pidge didn't say as much aloud. 

She had wanted to be the first to congratulate him, but as soon as he had linked arms with her again after leaving the stage, the first of the officials had set upon them. She had been forced to wait, but now she thought she had the chance.

“Congratulations,” Pidge managed as the fourth straight Ministry official was walking away, finally done with Shiro. No one was immediately there to take the official’s place, and she was grateful. 

As Pidge turned to smile up at Shiro, she noted that he looked slightly taken aback before he began smiling back at her.

“Thanks, Katie,” his tone was warm, and she felt her cheeks heat up accordingly. There was that  _ Katie _ again, that made her stomach lurch in a way that wasn't entirely bad.

“No problem,” she turned away, looking out across the room and hoping to hide her flush. She spotted her brother and Allura talking with someone else she recognized from their year, and then she spotted her own parents making a beeline in her direction. “Don’t be alarmed, but my parents are on their way over,” she found herself teasing, lightly nudging him with her elbow. He stifled his laugh and nudged her back.

“Shiro!” Samuel Holt spoke first as he reached the duo. He offered his hand immediately and Shiro obliged, reaching forward to shake it. “Congratulations! I know the auror training is hard stuff these days, but I hear you passed with flying colors! I expected nothing less from you, though.”

Shiro chuckled, almost nervously. Pidge didn’t understand what reason he’d have to be nervous, though, considering how many times he’d met her parents before. He was Matt’s best friend, after all. 

When Shiro found his voice, he managed a warm, “Thank you, Mr. Holt.”

“Sam, I tell you, call me Sam!” he clapped Shiro on the shoulder, beaming. “I’ve told you that for how many years, Shiro?”

“You may have to tell me for a few more years before it sticks,” Shiro quipped, and Pidge’s father laughed.

Colleen Holt stepped forward then, nudging her excitable husband out of the way. She grasped Shiro’s hand in a brief handshake and then, as per her usual greeting, she pushed herself on her toes and pressed a kiss to Shiro’s cheek. “Congratulations, hon,” she said, smiling at him. “You should be proud.”

Colleen had always treated him like one of her own kids, so Pidge felt conflicted when she identified the strange feeling that flared up at her mother’s actions as  _ jealousy _ . Why on earth should she be jealous of her mother treating Shiro like another of her children? But it wasn’t that, she knew–it was more the familiarity her mother had, and the ease with which she was able to interact with him.

“Thanks, Mrs. Holt,” Shiro smiled back at her. “I’m glad I’ve made it this far.”

“You were always going to make it,” Pidge interjected, nudging him again. “As soon as you decided you wanted to be an auror, you put everything you had into it, so of course you’d make it.”

“She’s right, she’s right!” her father agreed wholeheartedly, grinning. “I can’t believe you actually got our Katie into a  _ dress _ , though! That’s more of a feat than passing auror training. Well done!”

“ _ Dad _ !” Pidge’s jaw dropped, but her mother lightly whacked him on the shoulder in the same instant. It didn’t hide the way that her mother was trying not to smile, or the way that Shiro had let out a soft chuckle, but at least someone was mostly on her side.

“Well, it’s true!” he declared defiantly. “I remember the last event we came to as a family, Katie. It took your mother three hours to convince you to wear the dress, and you only agreed because she said she’d buy you a new spellbook if you’d play nice for the party!”

Colleen laughed, but slid her arm back through her husband’s. “Come on, give her a little credit. She did it voluntarily this time, dear, and with a bit less grousing about it. Allura even said she was fairly agreeable when they were getting ready, too.”

Sam clapped his hands together and grinned. “And there you have it. If it wasn’t for Shiro inviting her to accompany him, Katie probably wouldn’t be here, and we would have lost the chance to see her in a dress. Thank you, Shiro, for giving my daughter an opportunity to actually act like a lady.”

Pidge suddenly understood how her brother had felt just earlier that evening, and groaned, “I resent that,” just as her brother had done.

Shiro’s arm tightened around hers again, comfortingly, and his voice was firm but cheerful when he spoke. “I can’t take any credit for that, though. It was Matt’s suggestion, you know.”

“Oh, sure, but if it wasn’t you, Katie probably would have just stayed home and practiced her transfiguration,” Sam waved his hand, grinning, but Pidge came to another terrifying realization. Even her  _ father _ knew. “Anyway, I’ve promised Iverson that I’ll talk to him about the incident that happened earlier this week with an enchanted teapot that fell into an unfortunate muggle’s possession, so we’ll talk later!”

“Don’t give him too much credit,” Colleen informed them sagely, slipping her arm from her husband's so she could speak to them a few moments longer. “He’s already two glasses of wine in because he knows that Iverson hates talking business when there’s alcohol involved. And that was his way of telling you that you look lovely, Katie.”

Colleen leaned forward to kiss her daughter on the forehead, and Pidge scowled.

“Well, he’s as good at compliments as Matt is.”

She laughed. “Of course. Where’d you think he got it from?”

Pidge groaned and Shiro laughed. The elder Holt smiled and then bid farewell for the time being, following after her husband even as Pidge watched him swipe another glass from a server’s tray.

“He really doesn’t want to talk to Iverson,” Shiro observed, and Pidge knew he’d noticed the same thing. As almost an afterthought, though, he added, “I really don’t blame him.”

Pidge snorted, leaning into his arm a little. “I take it he’s not a nice guy or something?”

Shiro leaned over her a little, to be closer, and agreed, “Or something.”

They shared a laugh, and then a passing server stopped to offer Shiro a glass and congratulations. Shiro thanked him for his congratulations and then took a glass and passed it to Pidge. She accepted, more out of habit than actual desire for alcohol, and then he took another for himself. The server nodded to them and then disappeared back into the throng of partygoers.

Pidge swirled the wine in her glass for a moment, and then said, more as a question than anything, “Thanks?”

“You’re welcome?” his voice lilted in a question, as well.

“Well...cheers to your graduation from training, I guess?” Pidge grinned, rolling her eyes at him. He laughed a little, but raised his glass.

She tapped hers gently against it, and he echoed, “Cheers.”

In unspoken agreement, they both tilted their glasses back and emptied them. 

“I’m going to regret that,” Shiro announced bluntly, discarding his empty glass on a nearby tray full of them. He took Pidge’s and repeated the gesture while she examined him curiously. 

“It’s just wine,” she tried, shrugging. “It shouldn’t do too much, right?”

“...Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed, but there wasn’t any conviction in his tone. She recalled, vaguely, that Matt had joked about Shiro being a lightweight in one of his letters. Pidge had always questioned the validity of that statement, but hearing him now, she wasn’t so sure. There hadn’t been time yet, of course, for the alcohol to take root, but she wondered what would happen when it did.

“Oh, don’t look now, but I think another person is coming over to congratulate you.”

Shiro groaned a little, but smiled readily enough when a different Ministry official stepped forward and greeted him. Pidge just grinned and watched, content now that she’d finished congratulating him. And then shortly after, her brother and Allura popped over, teasing and heckling for a while before Matt went to talk to one of his superiors.

It was a little after this that Pidge finally started to see what Shiro had meant.

Shiro was a big guy. He towered over her small frame and he always had. It became more apparent when he was leaning some of his weight against her, though, his arm pulling hers more tightly against his side. It was pretty clear that he wasn’t aware of it, either. When Pidge realized the slight sensation of lightheadedness that was odd but not unpleasant, tickling in the back of her mind, she put two and two together.

The wine had made her a little more smiley, but it had made Shiro a little...unsteady? That was a good descriptor, especially when he dragged his toes on a few steps and had to rely on Pidge to guide him.

“You really are a lightweight,” she muttered under her breath with a snort. 

“Did you say something?” Shiro blinked down at her, eyes wide and innocent, and she snorted again, hiding her mouth behind her hand.

“Nah, nothing at all.”

He hummed in agreement, and then had to pull his attention to another official. After a brief conversation, the man frowned a little and asked, “Have you been drinking, cadet?”

Now she could match the face with the name, and Pidge had to struggle not to laugh. This had to be the Iverson that didn’t like to mix drink with official business. He probably didn’t even like the idea that there was wine at a Ministry event.

“One, sir,” Shiro said honestly, but the man, Iverson, scoffed.

“A likely story,” he said, petulantly. “I’ll see you bright and early, Shirogane, and don’t expect any leniency.”

As he stalked away, Shiro looked flabbergasted. “It was true! Why’d he treat me like I was lying?”

Pidge started laughing and couldn’t quite contain it behind her hand. It could have been because he was a little peppier than usual, or that his smile was a touch more childish, or maybe he could even smell it, though Pidge found that one the least likely.

“Hey,” he scowled, and Pidge cleared her throat, trying to regain control of herself.

“No, it’s nothing, I know you were telling the truth,” she managed as she took a slow, deep breath. “As long as we know you were telling the truth, you’ll be fine,” she patted him on the arm with her free hand, and grinned at her.

Pidge wished her stomach would stop lurching in reaction to that lopsided grin. It had been  _ years _ .

But then it felt like the bottom of her stomach dropped away completely when Shiro laughed and leaned down to brush his lips lightly across her temple before he straightened again. 

“You’re right,” he offered, tone light and airy. “Thanks, Katie.”

The heat rushed to her face almost immediately and, if anyone asked, she would have blamed it entirely on the alcohol.

* * *

 

Pidge allowed Lance’s little sister to push her to the line for the Hogsmeade trip. It was a little nostalgic, considering that she had nearly done the same thing to all of her friends when their last Hogsmeade trip as Hogwarts students had arrived. And now it was her turn, and none of her group remained. The downfall of being the youngest, she mused.

“Don’t even think about being boring,” Rosa declared as they sidled forward, no longer at the tail end of the line. “I know you’ve got your N.E.W.T.s coming up and all, but you’re a genius or something. You don’t need to spend the last Hogsmeade trip with all the other fifth and seventh years in the library with your nose in some stuffy old book written by some dead old wizard!”

It wasn’t the same argument Pidge had used to get Hunk to go to Hogsmeade last year, but it hit a lot of the same points. She laughed.

“Calm down, Rosa. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“And you’d better stay here,” she sniffed, but Pidge watched the corner of her mouth twitch into a triumphant grin.

The fifteen year old was a lot like her older brother. Lance had often teased her and claimed her as a miniature version of himself, and Pidge could definitely see the similarities. She had the same air of mischief about her almost constantly, and Pidge thought it suited the young Gryffindor quite well.

And she proved to be just as devious as Lance when they passed through the gates leaving the school grounds and Pidge was accosted by some very familiar faces just beyond.

“Good job, Rosa!” Lance gave his sibling a quick one-armed hug, ruffling her short hair. She yelped and then cursed at him before she managed to escape his grasp, but she looked proud of herself.

“Nice to see you too,” she elbowed him. “I’m going to go hang out with my friends now! Have fun, Pidge!”

Pidge barely saw Rosa flounce away before she found herself crushed in a bear hug. When she could finally breathe again, once Hunk had released her, she demanded, “What the hell are you guys doing here? Don’t you have actual jobs you should be at instead?”

She couldn’t help the smile on her face, though, and she suspected they all knew she was only putting on a front.

“Like rational adults, we’ve all taken days off for this,” Matt was the next to hug her, and then he stepped back to leave his arm resting across her shoulders. “Except Shiro, unfortunately, because the Office of Magical Law Enforcement is full of slave drivers and never gives the aurors, in particular, any time off.”

Allura rolled her eyes, prying him away so she could greet Pidge, too. As she did so, she countered, “Being an auror is a difficult job, Matt, and some incidents take time. It could be that he was still in the middle of something, and he probably couldn’t just leave.”

Pidge would have been lying if she claimed that she hadn’t noticed his absence already. In fact, as soon as she’d seen all their familiar faces, her eyes had scanned the group for his. It had been her first instinct. Even after all her years of admiring him from afar, she couldn’t get used to the rollercoaster of emotions that his presence, or lack thereof, caused her.

“Whatever,” Lance dismissed the previous topic with a wave of his hand and grasped at Pidge’s sleeve. He started to pull her towards the town proper. “We’re here to continue a tradition, even if someone can’t make it!”

“What tradition?” Keith practically drawled, but he grinned at Pidge. He wasn’t a huggy person, but his presence was plenty. 

“The last Hogwarts Hogsmeade trip tradition!” Lance shot back, still pulling Pidge ahead.

“You can’t call it a tradition when the three of us didn’t go for Shiro, Matt, and Allura,” Hunk pointed out. 

“Well, they didn’t come for ours, either, but you know who did?” Lance paused in his march, slinging his arm around Pidge’s neck and pulling her closer to ruffle her hair, almost like he’d just done with his own sister. “This little Pidgeon right here! And this is about her and no one else, so let’s get this party started!”

“That’s right!” Matt agreed enthusiastically. “How about a trip to Honeydukes? I’m sure you could use some sugar quills or something about now. I know that I needed some just to keep me sane while I was taking tests.”

“Honeydukes has some wonderful dark chocolate,” Allura nodded her agreement. “I don’t know if you’ve ever tried it, but I’ll get you some, too. It’s our treat today!”

The other three agreed even as Pidge protested, and Lance returned to pulling her through the streets towards Honeydukes. And even if she didn’t really decide where they went despite Lance’s declaration that today was about her, she didn’t really mind. She felt all warm and cozy, and even though Shiro wasn’t there, she already knew she’d have fun.

As the afternoon wore on, she found herself almost dreading the moment when they’d have to part, even if she was a little frustrated with how everyone had bought her  _ something _ . They must have been remembering her little gifts to each of them, right before their own N.E.W.T.s.

“Oooh, why don’t we take a peek at the Hog’s Head? I only went in there once while I was a student because it’s so sketchy. And we should visit the Shrieking Shack again!” Lance danced down the street ahead of them, looking at all the signs and reminiscing. “We could slip back through Honeydukes! I think I do wanna try that new candy they were advertising. And Zonko’s! I can’t believe I forgot about Zonko’s!”

“Shouldn’t Pidge be deciding where to go?”

“Well, she won’t  _ say _ anything!” Lance responded to the interruptor with ease, taking it completely in stride. “She’s being boring, Shiro!”

Everyone else, Pidge included, had already turned to face him in surprise. Lance, after a brief pause, gasped and turned to the doorway of Scrivenshaft’s as he realized the name that had casually slipped out. Shiro stepped to the street, offering them that familiar grin.

“It really  _ is _ Shiro!” Lance exclaimed unnecessarily. “I thought they wouldn’t give you the time off!”

“We wrapped up our job today,” he shrugged, but then looked sheepish when he scratched the back of his neck and added, “I kind of forced my half of the paperwork for it onto my partner with a promise that I would buy him lunch for a week, but it’s worth it.”

He slipped into their group, right up to Pidge, and drew her into an affectionate hug. She hesitated for just a moment before wrapping her arms around him in return. She could hear her pulse pounding in her ears and could tell that her heartbeat had picked up from his proximity, but right now she didn’t really care. 

They had never actually discussed what had happened at the gala. Pidge had never mentioned it and Shiro had never brought it up, so she just let it rest. He hadn’t been wrong about his poor alcohol tolerance, after all, and part of her wondered if a single glass of wine was actually enough to make him forget part of the night, but she wasn’t going to ask. She didn’t want to try to explain it if he didn’t remember. Regardless of whether he was aware or not, though, she had sensed something inherently warm in their interactions since, and more than just the normal and familiar relationship they’d carried all these years.

A small part of Pidge hoped that this new warmth between them meant that her feelings weren’t in vain.

“Glad you could make it, Shiro,” she murmured into his chest just before they separated. She had the feeling that their embrace had lasted longer than strictly necessary, and she tried to avoid meeting Matt’s knowing eye as she grinned up at Shiro. She still saw the smirk on her brother’s face.

“How’s the day going so far?” he asked, smiling softly back.

“It would’ve been better if Lance hadn’t forced me to go into Madam Puddifoot’s just so I could say I’ve been,” she responded easily, slipping back into the familiar routine. The others laughed again, just as they had when it had happened, and Lance puffed out his chest victoriously. Shiro grimaced in sympathy before he sighed.

“Man, I wish I could have seen your face.”

The renewed laughter of the entire group drew stares from the crowds on the streets, and Lance started to make exaggerated impersonations for Shiro’s benefit. Pidge pretended to be annoyed or offended, but it was just then that she finally realized what the true meaning of today was.

She was not alone.

Pidge was the youngest, but they all still cared enough and took the time out of their busy schedules to do for her what she had done for them–proved that, even though they were leaving school behind, it didn’t mean that the relationships they’d built there would also be in the past. And that’s what they were doing for her, right now. 

They had all left Hogwarts behind before her, but this was proof that leaving school behind didn’t mean that they had left  _ her _ behind.

She smiled, and then finally spoke up.

“Why don’t we just follow tradition and end today with a drink at the Three Broomsticks?”

A hand touched her back, gently, and she glanced over to find Shiro still walking beside her, as he had been since he joined the group nearly a half hour prior. His hand was warm, and she felt her cheeks heat up to match.

“That sounds like a great idea, Katie.”

Everyone else agreed quickly after that, though Lance claimed that it was boring to stick so closely to tradition. Shiro’s hand remained where it was, almost as if he was gently guiding her, for several long moments as they turned to head toward the pub. 

She found herself hoping, more than she’d ever hoped before, that she hadn’t been reading too much into his actions.

* * *

 

Before her N.E.W.T.s began, Pidge received a small parcel and a letter from Shiro.

The parcel, which read “open first” on the outside, contained a quill and a small bottle of color-changing ink. The quill was nicer than the one she’d given him right before his exams, and the ink reminded her of the way that both Shiro and Hunk had studied for their tests. They had used it to write their notes in different colors, to help them study and memorize.

It was thoughtful, and Pidge found herself grinning. And then she opened the letter.

_ Katie, _

_ I’m sorry I haven’t been able to write as often as usual. I’ve been on a case of a...more serious nature, lately, so I haven’t had a lot of time. I had to get this letter off to you, though, because your N.E.W.T.s are right around the corner! _

_ I was a nervous wreck at this point in my seventh year, but something tells me you aren’t quite as bad. You’ve always been the smartest (don’t tell Matt I said that, he’d sulk for a month), and you’ll do fine. That said, I hope you like the gifts I sent you with this letter. You might not believe me, but the quill you gave me shortly before my exams really helped me. It was such a small thing, but I knew it meant you believed in me to do well, so I hope this quill can give you some of the same sense of security that you gave me. _

_ Since I doubt I’ll be able to write again before your exams, I want to wish you good luck. Eat, sleep, drink lots of water, and study, and there’s nothing you can’t do, Katie. _

_ Yours,  _

_ Shiro. _

Pidge fought the urge to hold the letter to her chest, glancing at her fellow Slytherins to make sure they hadn’t noticed from their seats at breakfast, and she smiled. Really, all she needed was a letter from Shiro to make her day, but if she used that quill for everything leading up to her N.E.W.T.s, and the ink for studying even though she didn’t think she had to separate it by color, then she did so entirely because it helped her feel like Shiro was there with her.

 

When she finished her Arithmancy N.E.W.T. and had revised it once already, Pidge sighed. The clock at the front of the hall informed her that she had to wait nearly forty minutes before the examination period ended, and she opted to spend a few more minutes revising her answers as a way to pass the time.

She had nothing better to do, after all.

If she let her mind wander, which she did a few times while silently checking her answers, she would start composing letters in her head. She’d send everyone a little something to let them know that she had finished her N.E.W.T.s and that she felt she had done well, and then she’d be able to relax for the last three days before she left Hogwarts for the last time. At least as a student.

She toyed with the idea of writing to her mother and father about her idea of becoming an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. There was a lot she didn’t know about that part of the Ministry, and she couldn’t deny that she had a curious mind that was starving for knowledge. Plus, if she worked at the Ministry, she’d be close to most of the people that she cared for...including Shiro.

Pidge pulled her attention back to the present quickly then. She couldn’t let herself get too distracted by thoughts of Shiro when she was in an examination where even the slightest noise would get you scolded.

She finished revising for the second time and sighed again. Pidge weighed the pros and cons of going through it for a third time even though she hadn’t found any errors on the previous two revisions. There were still a full thirty minutes remaining, though, and Pidge still had nothing else to do, so she inwardly groaned and started to skim again.

After a few more minutes, the entire hall turned into a flutter of motion and turning heads when the Hogwarts headmaster himself swept through the doors, between the rows of desks, and up to speak with the head proctor of the exam. Most of the students had already finished by now, but those who hadn’t were not distracted for very long. The rest were a mixture of people who stared unabashedly at the Headmaster and examiner as they spoke in hushed tones and those who pretended to be revising while doing the same thing.

It wasn’t every day that the headmaster interrupted in the middle of a N.E.W.T., after all.

The proctor, after their short conversation, glanced down at the parchment in front of him before gesturing toward the left side of the hall. The headmaster asked something more and the proctor nodded, and then Professor Smythe–Coran, as she was more used to calling the headmaster, since he was Allura’s godfather–swept away from the front and after a moment of deliberation, came down the third aisle from the left.

Most of the students scrambled to look busy, but Pidge continued to watch, unashamed. And then, to her surprise, Coran stopped right next to her. With a tap of his wand, her exam rolled up, neatly tied, and rested in place on her desk. Quietly, as if in an attempt to keep from further disturbing the rest of the students, he murmured, “Up you get, Number five. With me.”

It took a few seconds of complete confusion before Pidge comprehended that she needed to get up because the headmaster was asking her to. Once that realization hit, she scrambled to her feet as quickly and quietly as she could. Coran nodded at her, and then turned to head back to the doors. She understood that she was to follow, and though she didn’t completely understand why, she complied.

Pidge fell in step behind and the tingle of watching eyes followed her the entire way through the remaining N.E.W.T. Arithmancy students, and even random stragglers when they passed through the entrance hall.

She didn’t speak until they were halfway to his office.

“Professor, what–”

“Not yet, Miss Holt,” his tone was clipped but not unkind. It was then, though, as he glanced at her, that Pidge finally noticed his grim expression. He looked a little pale, his features tighter than she could remember seeing them, and dread seized her heart.

Suddenly, Pidge felt like the Hogwarts castle was an incredibly small place.

She remained silent until they entered his office, and then she couldn’t even find the words to ask the multitude of questions that bombarded the insides of her skull. What happened? Was someone hurt? Had someone died? Had she somehow been accused of cheating on her N.E.W.T.s and was therefore being expelled three days before she would graduate? Had there been anything that she, personally, had done wrong in the last few months?

“Pidge,” Coran finally spoke up, and using her nickname of choice. It’s how she knew he was being serious instead of just professional, in which case he would have called her Miss Holt again. “I’ve got some unsettling news to discuss with you.”

“What…” she started to ask what it was, but then couldn’t figure out how to phrase it.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, and then forged on, “There was an accident early this afternoon. While working undercover, an auror named Ulaz was discovered, and he and his partner were compromised. There was a battle between this small group of dark wizards and the auror team, and both aurors were seriously injured before one of them managed to apparate his partner and himself to safety.”

The name Ulaz was too familiar for it to be any sort of coincidence, and Pidge’s blood ran cold. 

Though she had to swallow thickly, she managed, “Shiro?”

Coran nodded.

Her voice trembling, Pidge asked, “How is he? Is he alright? Can I see him?”

She wanted to ask why she was being given information she was sure would be classified, too, but that wasn’t nearly as important as finding out about Shiro’s wellbeing. Nothing was as important as that.

“He is in stable condition. Both aurors were immediately removed to St. Mungo’s upon arrival back at the auror offices, and they are out of danger,” the headmaster pinched the corner of his mustache. He looked troubled, but Pidge couldn’t wait.

“Can I see him?” Pidge repeated, more urgently this time.

“They’ve all requested your presence,” he finally said, gesturing to the fireplace, “so I pulled you from your exam as soon as I had more information. They’ll be able to fill you in at St. Mungo’s, and the floo network is connected to this fireplace, at least for the time being.”

Pidge threw herself at him, hugging the headmaster tightly and whispering a tremulous, “ _ Thank you! _ ” into his ear.

“Go to him,” he responded simply, reaching to take a small bowl from the mantle. He held it out to her, and she recognized the floo powder within.

Without any further conversation, Pidge took a pinch of the powder and stepped into the fireplace. She took a steadying breath and closed her eyes and then she threw the dust at her feet, calling out, “St. Mungo’s!” as she did.

She stumbled out of the fireplace and straight into someone. She had scarcely apologized when the person holding her cried, “Pidge! Thank Merlin they let you come!”

Pidge blinked up to find Lance, eyes red and voice trembling, but smiling. If he was smiling, then everything was better, but she hated the idea that they had waited to call her until the knew things were going to be better. 

“How–”

“He’s sleeping, last I was in there,” Lance cut her off, pulling her through to the elevators. “He was asking for you, though, when they were reattaching his arm–”

“When they were  _ what _ ?” her heart leapt to her throat. Reattaching? His  _ arm _ ? 

Lance blinked, surprised at her tone, then backtracked. “Coran didn’t really tell you anything, did he? Just that shit went wrong?” When Pidge nodded the affirmative Lance ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I guess I’ll give you a quick rundown on the way. Basically, something went wrong–and Shiro doesn’t blame his partner at all, so we’re not entirely sure  _ what _ went bad–and they had to fight their way out. It was an undercover op, you know, and only Ulaz’s cover was blown, but Shiro blew his own to help out when it looked like they were gonna kill him. They fought their way out, somehow, and they were both in really rough condition when Shiro had to just grab his partner and go. When he apparated, though, since he wasn’t able to concentrate entirely, he splinched himself and ended up leaving his right arm behind.”

“No way,” Pidge breathed, disbelief filling her.

“The recovery and recon team they sent managed to bring back his arm in time, and they reattached it, but while he was all jacked up on whatever potion they gave him when he woke back up, he was asking for you.”

A strange warmth permeated the dread, then. She wasn’t sure exactly how to feel, but it was comforting knowing that he had asked for her, especially given his circumstances. For him to ask after her in a time of need, of  _ pain _ , was touching.

Out loud, she mused, unsurely, “Did he really ask for me? He could have sent for anyone, like Matt or Allura, or family, so why me?”

“No, he really did ask for you. They talked to Hunk–the Healers in charge, I mean. They won’t let him do treatments, since Shiro is his friend  _ and _ since Hunk’s still in training–and Hunk got in touch with the rest of us, and we all wrote to Coran to get him to let you come.” Lance wrapped his arm around her shoulders and it was then that she realized she was trembling. “And you’ve got to be kidding me, Pidgeon. Of  _ course _ he’d ask for you. You  _ are _ like family, for one, and even if you won’t man up and say something, everyone except the two of you knows there’s something there.”

“Shut up,” Pidge groused at him, cheeks warming. “I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“Just because I’m open with my affections doesn’t mean that telling someone your feelings is the wrong choice,” Lance offered sagely, but there was a little more energy in his voice. “Anyway, we’re almost there. He might still be asleep, but I’m not sure.”

“Is that…?” 

Pidge looked up at the voice and saw Allura pointing towards her, and then Matt turned around from peering through the doorway to see them approaching. Hunk was pacing nearby but also paused when Allura spoke. Keith was silently watching, leaning stiffly against the wall with his arms crossed, but he nodded as relief flooded his features. 

Was it really that important that she was there, too?

“Pidge!” Hunk cried, and he was the first to come forward, squeezing and lifting until her toes left the floor. “I’m so glad you could make it! Shiro was asking for you and asking for you and we weren’t sure we could convince Coran to get you since you were taking your N.E.W.T.s and–”

“Calm down, Hunk,” Allura placed her hand on his shoulder, and he lowered a gasping Pidge back to her feet. “You look a little pale, Pidge. Are you okay?”

“Am I really the one we should worry about?” she laughed a little and accepted the gentle hug Allura offered her.

“We’re always going to worry about you, Pidgey-pie,” Matt slipped in to hug her almost before Allura had stepped back. “He’s stable now, but the Healers are doing an examination, so we have to wait before we can go back in. We’ve got nothing better to do than worry about you.”

_ Stable _ . That was something Pidge had needed, desperately, to hear again. The knowledge that Shiro would be okay, despite the fact that she didn’t know the extent of his injuries, was enough to calm her racing heart just slightly. Matt smiled knowingly and she could only nod her thanks, leaning into his side when he didn’t remove his arm from her shoulder.

“So...how do you think you did on your tests? Which one are we making you fail right now?” Lance asked, sidling up to stand next to Keith and Hunk.

Pidge snorted. “I think I did pretty well, and I was already done with the Arithmancy test when Coran came to fetch me. It was my last one, too, so I don’t have to worry about missing anything else.”

“You were always the smart one,” Hunk declared, still fidgeting with his hands. He wore a genuine smile, though, directed at her. “I bet you weren’t even that nervous when the tests came up. You probably didn’t study nearly as much as the rest of us did, and you’ll probably still score better.”

“Hey,” Matt said, a pout on his lips.

“That’s a lie,” Pidge snorted. “I still had to study like a madman, you know.”

“Mad _ woman _ ,” Lance interjected. Keith snorted and Hunk chuckled while Matt just rolled his eyes and Allura huffed out a sigh. It was then, however, that a Healer stepped out of the ward and blinked, looking at the group.

“There’s one more than there was,” she observed with a look between them. “Katie, I take it?” she asked Pidge.

“That’s me.”

The Healer nodded. “Mr. Shirogane has assured me that you are all authorized to hear any information we’d give to immediate family, and signed the appropriate paperwork, but know that otherwise I wouldn’t be giving you this information. He’s going to make a full recovery, but it will take at least a week before he’s cleared to leave the hospital. His injuries were very serious, and he’s quite lucky that his partner woke quickly and was able to tell us the curses and hexes that were employed against them.”

Pidge shuddered a little, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t the only one. That implied that it had been a close thing, and even though he was stabilized quickly it was only because they knew exactly what to deal with.

“At any rate, Mr. Shirogane is awake and coherent right now,” there were mutters of relief and Lance even asked what they were waiting for, but the Healer continued, “However, we are only allowing one or two visitors at a time for the moment. He’s been through a harrowing experience and we would like to ensure that the healing process goes smoothly. Please plan accordingly.”

The Healer gestured to her assistant and the duo turned to walk down the hall without any further explanation.

“Not one to mince words, is she?” Pidge drawled after she’d rounded the corner.

“Yeah, we noticed that, too,” Matt grinned, but he dropped his arm from around her shoulders. “Anyway, you heard the woman. What’re you waiting for?”

He nudged her toward the open door to the ward.

“Yeah, I heard her. I heard her say that we could go in one or two at a time, and to plan for it,” Pidge frowned at him. “So who am I going in with?”

Lance snorted. “And be a third wheel? No thanks, Pidgeon, we’re all gonna pass on that. We’ll wait out here, so take your time.” He flapped his hand dismissively, and Pidge tried to find words while her cheeks started to burn.

And what was worse is that, with laughs of their own, the rest of the group agreed with Lance in some way or another. She averted her gaze and protested, albeit weakly, “It’s...it’s not like that.”

“Not  _ yet _ ,” Hunk beamed, the most mischievous expression that Pidge had seen him wear in years. “Just go already, Pidge. We’ve all been in to see him at least once already. Plus he was asking for you, so you should go. It’s your turn to see him now, especially since they said he was awake.”

Pidge opened her mouth to protest again, but Keith’s hand squeezed her shoulder. It was the first she’d seen him move, and then he grinned at her. “Go, Pidge.”

She couldn’t complain after that, so she just nodded. She didn’t really trust herself to speak, and Pidge had no idea how she was going to find Shiro. They hadn’t really given her any information, aside from the fact that they had reattached his splinched arm. They would have warned her if she needed to school her expression better, wouldn’t they?

And just  _ what _ did all the others expect she and Shiro to talk about? It wasn’t like she was about to weep at his bedside and confess her undying love or anything, but she wouldn’t put it past Lance to expect as much. She was probably just going to scold him, make sure he was alright, hug him if it wouldn’t hurt him too much, and then let someone else come talk to him unless he asked her to stay.

She hoped he’d ask her to stay.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Pidge stepped into the room. Another assistant Healer glanced up from a bed at the far end of the ward, curtains strung around it, and then turned back to the bed and said, “Oh, it looks like Healer Brentwood has given your friends leave to see you again. I’ll leave you be, Mr. Shirogane, unless you need me.”

Pidge couldn’t make out his words, but she heard Shiro’s voice reply. The woman nodded back at him and then walked to meet Pidge halfway, gently catching her by the arm.

“Let us know if he needs anything, okay?” she said, smiling gently. “You’re the one he was asking for, right? Katie?” When Pidge murmured her agreement, the assistant nodded quickly. “Thought so! He’ll be happy to see you, I’m sure. But really, please let us know if he ends up needing anything. He seems like the type that would keep things to himself, sometimes.”

“Sometimes,” Pidge agreed, unable to keep herself from grinning at the eager woman. She resisted the urge to add that he usually hid things that pained him or that he thought would bother others because that would probably make the assistant Healer fawn even more. “If he needs anything, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

“Trust the girlfriend to take care of him!” She beamed, clapping Pidge on the shoulder. She flounced away before Pidge could even respond, and she groaned inwardly.

Was everyone going to assume more than was actually true? Probably everyone in all of St. Mungo’s thought they were together. At this rate, Pidge almost believed it–especially when she remembered the gala, and the Hogsmeade trip just a month ago. And then, to top it all off, was the nagging thought...was that so bad? Was it so bad that Pidge felt almost as if there  _ was _ something going on between them?

She shook herself out of it and took a few more steps. Her gait slowed before she rounded the curtain, and she took a steadying breath.

“Shiro?” she asked, ducking around the corner.

The first thing she saw was white, and it wasn’t just the linens of the hospital bed. The tuft of Shiro’s bangs, which had always been just as dark as the rest of his hair, was now a shock of white. She stared for a moment before following the strands down across his nose, where a shiny, new, puckered scar crossed beneath his eyes. And his eyes widened a little when he saw her.

“Katie!” his voice was bordering on hoarse, and she found herself moving to the bedside table to pour him a glass of water. “You’re here? What about your N.E.W.T.s?”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. She didn’t know if the feeling welling in her gut was disappointment or not, but she wasn’t sure whether he had been asking for her in delirium or not. Had he been conscious of asking for her, or had it been something he didn’t even remember?

For once, though, Pidge decided she wasn’t going to let it slide. She’d let the kiss to her temple at the gala slide, and the casual touches at Hogsmeade, but she didn’t think she could bear letting this go, too.

“My N.E.W.T.s are over,” she started, sitting the pitcher of water back down and taking a deep breath before she turned around and continued, “I’d just finished the last one when Coran pulled me out of the examination hall, even though there was a little time left.”

“You didn’t need to…” he trailed off, as if uncertain. Pidge frowned softly as she looked at him, and realized what felt off. He was always calm and collected, but right now he looked shaken. It made her chest squeeze.

“Didn’t need to what?” she snorted, trying to force some semblance of normal into her tone even as she sat on the edge of his bed, offering him the water. “Come make sure you were okay? Of course I needed to.”

“You only had a few more days left,” he took the water she offered him, his fingertips brushing against hers. “What if leaving that last N.E.W.T. early changed something…?”

“Then I’ll retake the test. I’m not going to restructure my life around a single exam, Shiro. Now drink your damn water. You sound like a toad.”

“But…”

She glared at him and pointedly switched between looking at the glass of water and meeting his gaze. He sighed, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth, and lifted it to drink.

“I had to come,” Pidge spoke up while he was drinking. When he finally lowered the glass, she took it from him and sat it back on the table before she finally admitted, “They said you asked for me, you know. When you were getting your arm reattached.”

He winced, and Pidge wondered if maybe it was too soon to remind him that he’d actually splinched himself. Then she saw him slowly lifting his right arm, and she noticed the scars there, too. The pale, shiny scar marred the flesh of his upper arm, and before she could stop herself, she was reaching across him to brush her fingertips against the skin. When he inhaled, more sharply than she had anticipated, she pulled her fingers back.

“Sorry, does it hurt?” she asked, looking up at him quickly.

Shiro shook his head. “No, no, I just…” he reached forward with his left hand until he could grasp the fingers of her right hand, lightly. “I was afraid, I guess? That you’d...see me differently?”

Hearing the way his voice caught in his throat was honestly the breaking point for Pidge. Shiro had always been a constant in her life, one that was sturdy and strong, and if he was doubting himself, Pidge had to help him find himself again. So she squeezed his hand back, far more tightly than he’d dared, and scowled at him.

“You’re an  _ idiot _ , Takashi Shirogane,” she deadpanned, running a thumb across his knuckles. She reached forward again to feel the scar around his bicep and lifted her hand to comb her fingers through his stark fringe, and then she traced the scar across the bridge of his nose. “You’re still  _ you _ . All of this? Everything you’ve been through? It just helps to shape who you are. You’d have to try really hard to make me see past the nerd who made friends with my dorky brother when you were both first years, you know.”

Shiro laughed. It was a shaky laugh, and more than a little of it was eclipsed by a relieved sigh. After a few moments, he sat up a little straighter in the bed and he shifted their linked hands so that their fingers slotted together.

“Thanks, Katie,” he breathed, and she finally caught the first glimpse of the grin she’d fallen for. It was then that Pidge felt a surge of confidence and decided to roll with it for the first time.

Pidge leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek, just off the corner of his new scar. When she pulled away, she offered him a shy grin and quipped, “Someone has to knock some sense back into you, and it didn’t look like the others had done it right.”

Shiro blinked at her in surprise, but after a moment, he snorted. His hand tightened again and, before she realized what was happening, she found herself nearly off-balance and toppling forward. Shiro’s hand slipped from her grasp and his arms wrapped around her, large and warm and comfortable, and his chin rested on top of her head. She could hear his heartbeat, and it was that above all else that helped her truly believe that he would be fine.

Pidge snaked her arms around him, and he held her closer.

“I think you’ve succeeded,” he mused, his voice warm and finally sounding reminiscent of the man she knew. 

“I sure hope so,” she mumbled against his chest, and she felt the rumble of his laugh. “Someone has to keep you in line.”

“You’re the only one that can, I think,” he chuckled. And then she felt him lean back and press a kiss to her hair, slow and gentle. Her heart stuttered in her chest as she pulled a little away from his embrace, glancing up at him. His words had her hoping, even though she’d kept herself from doing so for the better part of four years now. 

She should probably wrap up their conversation so the others could come in, but Pidge didn’t know how to pull away. Her heart was racing and she wondered if Shiro was close enough to hear it, considering how loud her pulse was in her own ears. But he smiled softly at her again, and it was like flipping a switch. She felt calmer than she had been even just moments prior.

Pidge wanted to say something, but she couldn’t figure out what. Feelings weren’t exactly her strong suit. It was then that Shiro leaned forward a little and drew her attention back to him as he pulled her hand back into his grasp.

“Hey, Katie,” he started, sliding their fingers together again. He paused, but when she squeezed his hand back, he seemed to regain his composure and moved on. “When I get out of here, how would you feel about going out to dinner with me?”

She caught herself staring after a few long moments and she wondered just how long she’d left him just looking at her with that imploring expression. She cleared her throat and asked, for clarification, “Like a date?”

Shiro’s cheeks were flushed lightly, but he agreed. “Like a date.”

As soon as his affirmation hit the air, Pidge threw all her hesitation out. With more confidence than she thought she possessed, at least when it came to Shiro, she found herself leaning forward and kissing him before she could question her actions. After a moment, when she noticed what she was doing and prepared to pull away, she felt Shiro’s free hand tangle gently in her hair and realized that he was kissing her back.

When she pulled herself away, reluctantly, she managed to draw some of her usual sass back into her tone when she declared, “I thought you’d never ask.”

Shiro chuckled and pulled her into another hug, and even though he was sitting in a hospital bed, wounded but recovering, Pidge felt like, together, they could still take on the world.

 

**Author's Note:**

> As per usual, you can find me on tumblr at [battleshidge](http://battleshidge.tumblr.com) or my main multifandom trash heap at [panda013](http://panda013.tumblr.com)!


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